The Sounds "B" and "V" in Spanish
One common mistake that native English speakers make when they speak Spanish is to pronounce the letters b and the v differently. Remember that, in Spanish, the b and v are pronounced the same way—[b] at the beginning of a word or after m and n, and [β] in all other positions in a word.
Are you a native English speaker who pronounces the Spanish b and v differently? (Don’t worry, it’s a common error!) In Spanish, the b and v are pronounced the same way, generally like the b in the English word ball. For example, compare the sound of the b in ball with its Spanish translation, balón. Do you hear how the two b's are the same sound? Now, let’s try it with the letter v. Compare the v in verdurawith the v in its English translation, vegetable. Do you hear the difference? The Spanish v is just like the English b. The b and v are generally pronounced the same way in Spanish, with one little difference.
Pronouncing B and V: [b] vs. [β]
What are these strange symbols: [b] vs. [β]?
In this article, we will discuss two different sounds represented by two different symbols from the International Phonetic Alphabet or IPA. The IPA is a system that linguists use to transcribe all the different sounds used across languages. Each unique sound in every language has a symbol to represent it! If you’d like to read a bit more about the IPA, check out this article.
We have established that in Spanish, b and v are pronounced the same way. That being said, there is a slight difference in the pronunciation of these two letters, but this difference in pronunciation depends on where the b and v are placed in a word, and what other letters surround them.
[b]
The letters b and v are pronounced just like the b in ball when they come at the beginning of a word or after a nasal consonant (m or n). If you want to get technical and talk like linguists do, this sound is called a voiced bilabial plosive.
We can hear the [b] in the following words:
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| beso | kiss |
| bienvenido | welcome |
| blanco | white |
| bomba | bomb |
| brazo | arm |
| bueno | good |
| envidia | envy |
| frambuesa | raspberry |
| invertir | invest |
| vaca | cow |
| ver | see |
| vida | life |
| voz | voice |
[β]
As we stated previously, when pronouncing the b and the v in Spanish, there is a slight difference—but it depends on the letter’s placement in the word!
We have already discussed [b], the b sound from the words ball or balón. The other pronunciation of the letters b and v is the [β], a sound we do not typically use in English. It sounds somewhat like the combination of a b and a v. Linguists call this sound a bilabial approximant. When do we use the [β] sound? Everywhere in Spanish that is not the beginning of a word or after an n or m sound.
Let’s take a look at some words where we can find a [β]. Make sure to select the IPA pronunciation from the drop-down menu so you can see where the [β] is in the word!
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| abrir | open |
| adivino | fortune-teller |
| árbol | tree |
| arveja | pea |
| caballo | horse |
| caravana | caravan |
| chivo | billy goat |
| curva | curve |
| dibujo | drawing |
| lava | lava |
| llover | rain |
| provocar | cause |
| recibir | receive |
Help! I can’t hear the difference between [b] and [β]!
Don’t worry. If you can’t figure out the difference between these two sounds, the safest bet is to simply pronounce all b’s and v’s like a [b]. Using this pronunciation is the safest bet, and it’s likely that you won’t confuse other speakers of the language.
Both [b] and [β]
Some words contain both the [b] and the [β] sounds! Check out these words, for example:
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| benévolo | kind |
| bóveda | vault |
| bravo | fierce |
| breve | brief |
| bulevar | boulevard |
| verbena | verbena |
| verbo | verb |
| viable | viable |
| vibrar | vibrate |
| vocablo | word |
As a general rule, remember: [b] for the beginning of a word and after m and n, [β] everywhere else!
Want to keep learning about tricky Spanish pronunciation? Check out these articles!
